Fingerprint scanners call time on yobs in Britain's Wild West

"Bio what? I haven't a clue what you're talking about." Viv, 22, who describes herself as a part-time receptionist and full-time party girl, has drunk more alcopops than she can recall and is struggling with the concept of biometric fingerprinting. "Is it something to do with robots?"

Revellers in the Somerset town of Yeovil, often seen as Britain's answer to the Wild West on a Friday and Saturday night, were this weekend getting to grips with a unique scheme which is more science fiction than Wild West. Customers entering the town's six main late-night drinking and dancing joints were being asked to register their personal details, have their photograph taken and submit to a biometric finger scan.

The idea is to weed out troublemakers. The details of anyone getting into a fight or causing a nuisance will be entered on to a computer. The next time the customer goes to a club involved in the scheme the details will be flagged up by the finger scanner at the entrance and the customer can be turned away.

In the past a troublemaker would leave one club, walk down the street and go into the next one. Under the new scheme the system is updated instantly, and the door staff at all the premises involved will be able to see what the customer has just been up to.

The InTouch scheme, the first of its kind, has created huge interest from around the world. Clubs in Russia, Australia, Holland and Germany are watching its progress. Police forces across the UK and the Home Office, which provided funding to get it up and running, are monitoring it and if it works in Yeovil it could spread around the country.

But it is also proving controversial with civil libertarians, who suggest that it is an excessive response to the problem of antisocial behaviour.

The idea was hatched by licensees, the police and local councillors. By day Yeovil is a pleasant market town. At night thousands of youngsters from neighbouring towns and villages converge on the dozens of pubs and clubs. Service personnel from the nearby Royal Navy air station add to what can be an explosive mix.

Late on Saturday night at the Beach cafe bar, the deputy manager, Daniel Trudgian, was to be found enthusiastically explaining the scheme to his customers. Nine hundred people went into the bar on Saturday night and Sunday morning, consuming nine kegs of lager and five of Strongbow cider, as well as 16 cases of the vodka-based drink WKD.

Trouble is not unknown. Since the club opened eight months ago there has been a string of scuffles and brawls. Two young men got overexcited and yanked a radiator off its fixings; someone else punched a hole in a wall. Such incidents will now go on the computer file. "Things do get out of hand sometimes," said Mr Trudgian. "This is a brilliant way of helping us stop troublemakers."

He said few people had balked at the idea of having their index fingers scanned. "Most seem keen when you tell them what it's all about. It's not about spying on people - it's about doing all we can to provide a safe venue."

At Dukes nightclub, another of the venues involved, the owner, Lee Crawford, was watching comings and goings from a bank of screens in his office. "This will make sure we can keep an eye on all of them," he said. He added: "Yeovil has a reputation of being 10 years behind everywhere else. It's nice we're leading the way for once."

Not all are impressed, however. Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the human rights group Liberty, said: "While nightclubs must protect their customers from bad behaviour, collecting the fingerprint and personal details of all customers seems a disproportionate strategy as well as a waste of money. There are adequate laws in place to deal with drunken thugs instead of treating all clubgoers as criminals."

The clubs and Avon and Somerset police, who are supporting the scheme, argue that it is not compulsory. Nobody can be forced to give a finger scan, which works by analysing a fingertip's ridges and furrows. However, the clubs admit they will not allow people in if they refuse to take part in the scheme.

How it works

· The scanner works by making use of the unique pattern of ridges and furrows found on the surface of everyone's fingertip, which is converted into a numerical code

· When a customer touches a finger on the scanner the computer searches for the number which tallies with the fingertip and brings up the customer's personal details

· If the customer causes trouble this can be entered into a special box within the computerised file which will be seen by door staff, who decide whether to let the person in on a subsequent occasion